Grateful. And some thoughts on Social Media…

March 4, 2010

This week I received what I consider to be the greatest compliment I could receive online – I had an entire blog post written about my business… and not just once, but twice. I’m deeply gratified. I gained more from social media this week, then I have since I started using the medium. My gains were at the expense of the time and thoughtfulness of others. There isn’t an analytics program out there that can place a metric on that.

A week ago, my friend James Ball wrote an article on his blog called Social Media: Selling Insurance from the Bathtub Since 2009. Not only am I thankful for such a wonderful compliment, but also for the way he described my (somewhat off the wall) business approach. My goal is to help change the stigma my industry has. In order to do that, I feel it is necessary for me to go that far into left field at times. I hope to help my colleagues find some middle ground as we enter a new era of business. It isn’t easy, and James has helped inject some new-found motivation into me when I needed it the most. If you haven’t visited his blog, you’re missing out. And if you have visited his blog and he is not in your RSS reader… well, that’s just plain silly. James is clever, insightful, creative, and damn smart when it comes to Internet marketing. There is a group of rising stars in social media and I believe he is one of them.

Fast forward to yesterday when another friend, Kevin Metzger, wrote this article about my business. Many kind words were said, and I’m truly thankful to Kevin for writing them. Kevin is another person you should get to know if you don’t already. He started a project called, The DADvocate Project. He is on a mission to have 1000 dads complete a survey on his website, and he intends to write a book based on his findings. A book for dads, by dads. I’m a new dad, and I also stay home with my little girl. I’m part of a new generation of dads, and I have a deep appreciation for the work Kevin is doing. If you’re a dad, please take five minutes and complete Kevin’s survey. There is no reason that he shouldn’t find 900 more dads by the end of summer, at the latest. I thank Kevin for his efforts and for striving to give dads a voice.

“Look Closer”

I met both James and Kevin online through Twitter. And of course, we’ve had the opportunity to meet in person. I have another friend I’ve made through social media, Todd Schnick. Todd owns a marketing company called Intrepid, LLC. On the right side of Todd’s blog there, you’ll find a column titled Look Closer. I don’t know if I can think of a better phrase that captures what social media should be. You have to go way beyond the surface of 140 characters, facebook profiles, Linkedin summaries, and status updates to find the real gold in social media ROI. You have to look closer.